Systeme.io vs Kajabi (2026): Which Is Better for Your First Course?
Systeme.io lets you sell a first course on a $0 plan with no platform fee. Kajabi starts at $143/mo billed yearly and adds quizzes, cohorts and a student app. Prices checked October 21, 2026.
The short answer
Systeme.io if you haven't sold a course yet: the free plan covers one course, 2,000 contacts and unlimited email, with no cut of sales. Kajabi starts at $143 a month billed yearly.
Prices checked on the vendor's own page. Some links are affiliate links (disclosure).
Quick verdict: Pick Systeme.io if you haven’t sold a course yet and want to launch for $0. The free plan covers one course, three funnels, 2,000 contacts and unlimited email, and Systeme.io takes no cut of your sales. Pick Kajabi if you already have an audience and income, and you want quizzes, certificates, cohort courses and a student mobile app in one polished place. Kajabi starts at $143 a month on a yearly plan.
At a glance
| Systeme.io | Kajabi | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free plan; paid from $17/mo ($170/yr) | From $143/mo billed yearly, or $179/mo monthly |
| Free plan | Yes, no end date, no card | No. 14-day trial |
| Core idea | Cheap all-in-one: funnels, email, courses, blog, affiliates | Premium all-in-one for courses, coaching and communities |
| Courses on entry plan | 1 course, 500 students (free) | 5 products (Basic) |
| Contacts on entry plan | 2,000 (free), 5,000 (Startup) | 2,500 (Basic) |
| Platform fee on sales | 0% on every plan | No revenue share. Kajabi Payments from 2.9% + $0.30 (US), or an extra 2% on Basic with another processor |
| Apps (mobile status) | No Systeme.io app found in the US App Store | Kajabi app for students on all plans, your own branded app on Pro |
| Best for | Your first course on a $0 or $17 budget | Creators with steady sales who want more built-in course tools |
What we tested
On October 21, 2026 we built a small course funnel on Systeme.io’s free plan: an opt-in page, a one-lesson course and an automation rule that enrolls new subscribers. We did not start a Kajabi trial, so everything about Kajabi in this article comes from its official pricing page, help center and terms, read the same day.
We picked the “Build an audience” funnel type, and Systeme.io created two steps on its own: an opt-in page and a thank-you or download page. The template picker shows nine designs per page, filled with placeholder text. Applying one took a few seconds. The funnel went live on a systeme.io subdomain built from our account email, so if your email is your full name, rename it before you share links. The funnel’s currency defaulted to the euro, which a US seller will want to switch to dollars.
The page editor is drag and drop, with an Elements tab (text, columns, forms, video, countdown, FAQ and more), a Blocks tab and a mobile preview. On the free plan every page carries a “Powered by systeme.io” badge in the corner.
For the course, we added a module and a lesson. Each lesson has a Delay field in days, so drip release is on the free plan, and the course list shows “Drip: immediately” for a lesson with no delay. The video block takes a direct link such as YouTube, a custom embed, or an uploaded file in mp4, ogg or webm. We didn’t find a quiz or certificate block in the lesson editor. The Courses area does have an Assignments tab, which we didn’t test.
Then we used the free plan’s one automation rule: when someone subscribes through the opt-in page, enroll them in the course with full access. The rule saved and showed as Active.
What we saw when we hit a free-plan limit
We built a second rule, enrolling students from the first course into a second one, and clicked Save. Systeme.io refused with a red notice: “You have exceeded the limits of your plan.” The rule wasn’t saved, and the notice didn’t name which limit or offer an upgrade button on the spot. The Upgrade link sits in the dashboard’s top menu.
We didn’t send live traffic through the funnel or connect a payment account, so we can’t speak to delivery speed or checkout yet.
Open a free Systeme.io account →Building your first course
Both tools let you upload lessons, group them into modules and sell access. Kajabi documents more course tools. Its course page lists hosted video, quizzes anywhere in the curriculum, automatic completion certificates, drip release by date or days after purchase, and an AI outline builder that drafts modules and lessons from a topic. Cohort courses, where a group moves through the material together with live sessions, need the Growth plan or higher.
Systeme.io’s features page lists video lessons, PDF downloads, drip scheduling, module locking and student progress tracking. In our free account, lessons took uploaded mp4 files or a YouTube link, and each lesson had a drip delay in days, but the lesson editor had no quiz or certificate block. The free plan gives you one course. Systeme.io’s features page says that course allows unlimited students, but its pricing page and plan data cap free-plan students at 500, so plan around 500. That covers a first launch for most people.
Kajabi students can take a course on your Kajabi site or in the Kajabi app for iPhone and Android, and on Pro you get your own branded app, which Kajabi values at $199 a month. Systeme.io students use a browser.
Funnels and email
Both put landing pages, checkout and email in one account. That’s the reason to pick either over a course-only platform.
Systeme.io’s free plan has 3 funnels, 15 funnel steps, unlimited email sends, 1 email campaign, 1 automation rule, 1 workflow and 1 tag. Our audience funnel used 2 of the 15 steps. That last number is tight. One tag means one way to sort your list, so the free plan fits one lead magnet feeding one course and little else. Startup at $17 a month raises it to 10 funnels, 50 steps, 10 automation rules, 5 workflows and 10 tags.
Kajabi gives every plan unlimited funnels, landing pages and marketing emails. Its funnel builder starts from pre-built funnels that already have copy and emails filled in, so you edit instead of writing from a blank page. The catch is on Basic. Advanced automations and webhooks are Growth features, and so is running your own affiliate program, which Systeme.io includes even on its free plan.
Selling and transaction fees
Systeme.io charges 0% on sales on every plan. You connect Stripe, PayPal or another supported processor and pay that processor’s normal fee. Free accounts can process up to $10,000 in lifetime sales. Then a clock starts. Systeme.io’s terms give you 3 days to upgrade before your payment pages stop taking new orders.
Kajabi doesn’t take a revenue share either, but the fee depends on how you get paid. With Kajabi Payments, US card processing costs 2.9% + $0.30 on Basic, 2.8% + $0.30 on Growth and 2.7% + $0.30 on Pro. If you use a third-party processor instead, Kajabi adds 2% on Basic, 1% on Growth and 0.5% on Pro, on top of that provider’s own fee (PayPal is excluded from the extra fee).
Say you sell ten seats of a $200 course through Stripe on Kajabi Basic, which brings in $2,000. Kajabi’s extra 2% takes $40 of that. Stripe’s own fee comes on top.
Set up Systeme.io in ten minutes
These are the steps we followed on the free plan on October 21, 2026, with the menu names we saw.
- Open Systeme.io's signup page and create a free account with your email. The pricing page says no credit card is required.
- Go to Sites, then Sales funnels, and create a funnel with the “Build an audience” type. Pick a template for the opt-in page and replace the placeholder text. Check the funnel’s currency, which defaulted to euro for us, if you sell in the US.
- Go to Assets, then Courses, and add a course. Click Add module, then Add lecture, and set a Delay in days if you want drip release. Upload your video as mp4, ogg or webm, or paste a YouTube link.
- Go to Automations and open Automation rules. Set the trigger to “Funnel step form subscribed” on your opt-in page and the action to “Enroll in course”. This uses your one free rule.
- Publish the funnel and sign up with a second email address to check the whole path.
To stop a paid plan, go to your profile picture, then Settings, then Manage my subscriptions, then Cancel subscription. The cancellation takes effect just before the next billing date, and the pricing page says your account drops back to the free plan.
Integrations
Systeme.io lists Stripe, PayPal, Apple Pay, Razorpay, Flutterwave, Mercado Pago, Xendit and cash on delivery for payments. It also connects to Google Sheets, Google Calendar, Google Meet, Zoom, ActiveCampaign, SendGrid and Twilio SMS, and it has a public API. A Zapier app exists with five triggers, including new opt-in and new sale, and six actions such as granting course access. The payment gateways page in our free account listed Stripe, Mercado Pago, Razorpay, Flutterwave, Mollie, GoCardless, Xendit and cash on delivery. We didn’t connect any of them.
Kajabi names fewer. Its integrations page lists Stripe and PayPal for payments, Mailchimp, Drip, ConvertKit, AWeber and ActiveCampaign for email, Segment, Meta Pixel, Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics for tracking, plus Zapier and Creator.io. Every Kajabi plan includes third-party integrations. Webhooks start on Growth, and the API is a Pro feature.
Pricing (verified October 21, 2026)
Systeme.io
| Plan | Annual billing | Monthly billing | Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 2,000 contacts, 3 funnels, 15 funnel steps, 1 course (500 students), 1 automation rule, 1 tag, 1 custom domain, $10,000 lifetime sales cap |
| Startup | $170/yr | $17/mo | 5,000 contacts, 10 funnels, 5 courses, 10 automation rules, 10 tags, 3 custom domains |
| Webinar | $470/yr | $47/mo | 10,000 contacts, 50 funnels, 20 courses, 100 automation rules, evergreen webinars |
| Unlimited | $970/yr | $97/mo | Unlimited contacts, funnels, courses and automation rules, early access to new features |
All Systeme.io plans include unlimited email sends, unlimited sub-accounts and 0% transaction fees, and paying for a year up front works out to two months free. The free plan has no end date. Systeme.io does deactivate accounts with no login or activity for 6 months.
Kajabi
| Plan | Annual billing | Monthly billing | Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $143/mo ($1,716/yr) | $179/mo | 5 products, 2,500 contacts, 1 website, 1 community, 2 admin users |
| Growth | $199/mo ($2,388/yr) | $249/mo | 50 products, 25,000 contacts, 11 admin users, 500 AI credits, affiliate programs, advanced automations, remove Kajabi branding |
| Pro | $399/mo ($4,788/yr) | $499/mo | Unlimited products, 100,000 contacts, 3 websites, 3 communities, 26 admin users, branded mobile app, API |
Every Kajabi plan has unlimited funnels, landing pages and marketing emails, plus a 30-day money-back guarantee, and extra contacts cost $125 a month per block of 25,000.
Paid yearly, a first year on Kajabi Basic costs $1,716. Systeme.io Startup costs $170. The free plan costs nothing. If your first course earns $500, that gap decides it for you. If you already sell $5,000 a month, Kajabi’s price is a small slice of revenue and its extra course tools may earn it back.
Want to see Kajabi first? Kajabi's 14-day trial lets you build before you pay. On no budget, start free on Systeme.io.
Start on Systeme.io's free plan →Where Systeme.io wins
Price is the obvious one. Systeme.io lets you build a funnel, a course and an email list without paying anything or entering a card, and the free plan has no end date. You keep every dollar the platform could take, because Systeme.io charges 0% on sales on every plan. The free plan also includes your own affiliate program, which Kajabi saves for Growth at $199 a month. When you outgrow it, Startup costs $17 a month.
Where Kajabi wins
Kajabi has the deeper course toolkit on paper. Quizzes, completion certificates, cohort courses and an AI outline builder are all listed features, and your students get a mobile app on every plan. The funnel builder starts from funnels with copy and emails already written. Kajabi also has the friendlier refund policy, with a full refund within 30 days of your first charge. On Growth, 25,000 contacts for $199 a month gives a list-heavy creator plenty of room.
What we didn’t like about Systeme.io
The free plan’s single tag and single automation rule are the tightest limits we found on the pricing data. That’s one simple sequence. Segmenting buyers from freebie subscribers needs Startup. When we tried to save a second rule, we got a plain “You have exceeded the limits of your plan” notice that didn’t say which limit we’d hit.
Systeme.io’s terms say subscription plans are not refundable. You can try the free plan for as long as you want, so the risk is small, but annual plans carry no money-back promise. We also found no Systeme.io app in the US App Store on October 21, 2026, so you manage everything in a browser. Its own pages disagree on free-plan students (unlimited on the features page, 500 on the pricing page), so check the number inside your own account before you launch. Free-plan pages show a “Powered by systeme.io” badge, and new funnels default to euros, two small things to fix before a US launch.
What we didn’t like about Kajabi
The entry price. Basic at $143 a month billed yearly is a lot for someone who hasn’t sold anything, and Kajabi’s own FAQ points people with no sales to Basic. Basic also leaves out affiliate programs, advanced automations, webhooks and the option to remove Kajabi branding.
The trial has locks too. Kajabi’s help center says that during the 14-day trial you can’t bulk import contacts or edit site-wide email templates, and automation actions such as Send an email are switched off. You can build, but you can’t run a real launch before you pay.
Cancelling takes care. Kajabi’s help center says your site goes offline at the end of the billing period, your customers lose access to what they bought, and their subscriptions keep charging until you cancel each one by hand. We did not test Kajabi, so these points come from its pricing page, help center and terms.
Which one fits your week
A part-time creator with a 400-person Instagram following and a $97 course idea: Systeme.io on the free plan. One opt-in page, one course and one welcome email cover the launch, and you pay nothing until you pass 2,000 contacts or $10,000 in sales.
A coach already earning $4,000 a month from one-on-one clients, who wants to add a group program with live sessions and a student app: Kajabi Growth. Cohort courses need Growth. At $2,388 a year, it costs a little over half a month of that coach’s income.
A freelancer who wants to sell three small templates and a mini-course while keeping costs near zero: Systeme.io Startup at $170 a year once the free plan’s single tag gets in the way.
Who should skip both
If you only want to sell one PDF or a template, an all-in-one platform is overkill. A simple checkout tool does the job. If your audience lives inside an existing community app or Patreon, moving them is a big ask. And if you want full control of your site’s code and hosting, a WordPress setup with a course plugin fits better than either.
Support, cancellation and refunds
Systeme.io lists 24/7 email support on every plan and says its average response time is under 2 hours, seven days a week. Cancel from Settings, then Manage my subscriptions. The plan stays active until the next billing date and your account returns to the free plan. Its terms say plans are not refundable.
Kajabi support runs through chat and email. Its help center says the AI agent, Fin, usually answers chat first and brings in a person when needed, and technical and billing email teams work 24/7. To cancel, go to Account Settings, then Subscription, then Cancel subscription, then Complete cancellation. Kajabi’s terms give a full, no-questions refund if you email billing@kajabi.com within 30 days of your first charge. After that, payments are nonrefundable. If you start the trial with a card, Kajabi charges it on the day the trial ends, although its help center says some trials can start without a card at all. These terms come from each company’s help center and terms of service.
Privacy and account safety
Systeme.io is run by ITACWT Limited, a company in Dublin, Ireland, and its privacy policy says its servers are hosted by Amazon Web Services in Ireland. Kajabi, LLC is based in California. Kajabi’s terms say you keep ownership of your content, and its privacy notice says it acts as a processor for your customers’ data and takes part in the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework. After you close a Kajabi account, its help center says customer data may be deleted after 90 days, so export your contacts first. We have not reviewed either company’s security certifications.
Alternatives worth a look
Teachable and Thinkific are course-first platforms if you already have an email tool you like. Podia is a lighter all-in-one for digital downloads, courses and a storefront. We’ll compare them in a future article.
Who should choose Systeme.io
You haven’t sold a course yet, your list is under 2,000 people, and you’d rather spend money on ads or a microphone than software. Start on the free plan and move to Startup when you need a second tag or more automation rules.
Who should choose Kajabi
You already make steady money from your expertise and want quizzes, certificates, cohorts and a student app without stitching tools together. Start with Kajabi's trial, test the course builder, and use the 30-day refund window if the first paid month disappoints.
FAQ
Is Systeme.io really free?
Yes. Systeme.io's free plan has no end date and needs no card. It includes 2,000 contacts, 3 funnels, 1 course and unlimited email sends, with a $10,000 lifetime sales cap and deactivation after 6 months with no activity.
Does Kajabi have a free plan?
No. Kajabi has a 14-day trial, then plans start at $143 a month billed yearly or $179 monthly.
Does Kajabi take a percentage of my sales?
Kajabi takes no revenue share. You pay card processing through Kajabi Payments (2.9% + $0.30 on Basic in the US), or an extra 2% on Basic if you use another processor such as Stripe.
Can I move from Systeme.io to Kajabi later?
Yes, though you’ll rebuild pages and re-upload lessons by hand. Kajabi accepts contact imports, but its help center says bulk import is locked during the trial, so move your list after you pay.
Which is better for a beginner?
Systeme.io, for most first-time course sellers, because you can build a funnel and a course and launch them for $0 without a card or a trial clock running. Kajabi can wait.
Can I get a refund?
Kajabi does, within 30 days of your first charge. Systeme.io’s terms say its subscription plans are not refundable.
Do my students get a mobile app?
On Kajabi, yes. Students can use the Kajabi app, and Pro adds a branded app. We found no Systeme.io app in the US App Store, so students use a browser.
Scorecard
Our scores, out of 5, are for someone selling a first course. Systeme.io’s scores rest on our October 21, 2026 free-plan test plus its pricing page and plan data. Kajabi’s scores rest on its published plans, help center and terms, because we did not run a Kajabi trial.
| Systeme.io | Kajabi | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to launch a first course | 5 | 2 |
| Free plan or trial | 5 | 3 |
| Course tools (quizzes, certificates, cohorts) | 3 | 5 |
| Funnels and email on the entry plan | 3 | 4 |
| Fees on sales | 5 | 3 |
| Student mobile app | 1 | 4 |
| Refund and cancellation terms | 2 | 4 |
| Overall for a first course | 4.0 | 3.3 |
How we tested
On October 21, 2026 we read Systeme.io’s pricing page and the plan data behind its comparison table, plus its terms, privacy policy and help center. On the same day we read Kajabi’s pricing page, feature pages, terms, privacy notice and help-center articles on the trial, cancellation and support. We searched the US App Store for both companies’ apps. We skipped a Kajabi trial. On Systeme.io’s free plan we built an audience funnel from a template, a one-lesson course, and an automation rule that enrolls new subscribers, then tried a second rule to hit the plan limit. We didn’t connect a payment account or send real traffic.
Final verdict
Open a free Systeme.io account, build one opt-in page and one short course, and run it until you hit 2,000 contacts or your first real sales. If by then you want quizzes, cohorts and a student app, and the revenue covers $143 a month, try Kajabi and lean on its 30-day refund window.
Try Systeme.io free →
